Transformers: Sins of future's past
by JupiterJones
Summary: Megatron eventually lost to Optimus Primal, but he wasn't without an ace up his sleeve. Now history will be rewritten as the battle on Earth between the Autobots and Decepticons takes on a sudden twist! A divergent timeline AU that is mostly G1, with some touches from other continuities. Rated T for language, safety, and violence in parts. Pairings to come! R&R please!
1. Prologue

**Transformers: Sins of future's past**

_by JupiterJones aka J.A. Franks_

_Disclaimer:_ All things Transformers belong to Hasbro and Takara-Tomy. I own nothing but the plot and Ocs.

_Setting: _G1/beastwars/beast machines continuity, except where it isn't. Divergent time-line, AU.

Prologue:

* * *

Megatron was falling. Locked in battle with his nemesis, Optimus Primal, and he had little choice in the matter. As the organic core of Cybertron rushed toward him, time seemed to stretch, each second lasting an eternity. Worst of all, that damn filthy techno-organic was the cause of all of this. How could he look so serene in all of this? Does he really think that he has truly won? He wondered.

No. Megatron thought. Even he wasn't so foolish to not have a backup plan. It was unfortunate that he hadn't the time to calculate the true scope of the plan, but time was of the essence. Mentally he commanded his drones to carry out his last will, sending out a signal into deep space, to a facility he had left intact for just such an emergency. If he couldn't see his dreams for Cybertron fulfilled, the neither should Primal!

The plan was simple enough, yes. He mused as the core loomed closer still. Ever since he got his hands on the key to Vector Sigma, he knew he needed a backup plan. He instructed his Vehicon drones to build a vessel at an old shipyard, scavenging parts and transwarp drives from other ships. But this was no mere ship. No. This was the instrument of his revenge. On board this vessel was a deceptively simple device. A prototype Plasma energy core, tied directly to a key of vector sigma. Megatron almost had to thank Primal for revealing the original core's location to him so he could duplicate it.

Megatron knew that, even as he received the signal that the craft had launched, the chances of success were slim. But at this point, all possibilities point to Primal losing, and that was all that mattered. If reality becomes undone, Primal ceases to exist. If it works and history is changed, then Cybertron will never come to worry about a techno-organic future, and Optimus Primal's very dream will cease to exist.

At that final thought, Megatron finally smiled. Optimus Primal only had a brief moment to wonder why before oblivion greeted them both.

* * *

At the same time, far away. A single Vehicon 'general,' if you could call her that, snorted in disgust at the inelegant craft she was now the sole occupant of. It was nothing more than a glorified bomb. She thought as the craft's engines screamed to life. As it began to move on its pre-programmed course, Patchwork wondered what it would be like to serve under the _real_ Megatron.. or if she would even survive the device's activation. Megatron certainly had not meant for her to be on board, but he wasn't in any position to object anymore, and soon.. never will be. She cackled to herself as the transwarp drive shuddered to life, with Earth as its destination. It would be nice to see her great grandfather Hook in base metals, she thought.

* * *

Read rate and review please! Full chapters will be longer, I promise!


	2. Chapter 1

**Transformers: Sins of future's past**

_by JupiterJones aka J.A. Franks_

_Disclaimer:_ All things Transformers belong to Hasbro and Takara-Tomy. I own nothing but the plot and Ocs.

_Setting: _G1/beastwars/beast machines continuity, except where it isn't. Divergent time-line, AU.

Chapter 1:

* * *

Patchwork awoke from her stasis nap with a start, her engines revving loudly as a klaxon sounded from one of the patched together control panels. She scowled as she got up to silence what was undoubtedly a meaningless glitch. Unfortunately, it was far from meaningless. There were anomalies in the transwarp drives. Drives two and five were running above their rated temperatures and one and three had dropped output by thirty percent. "That's what you get from scavenging parts from old Maximal cruisers." She grumbled as she tapped in corrections and dispatched a few of her drones to repair the problem. The error cost the mission though. Instead of dropping out of transwarp in Earth orbit, the ship would pop out just behind the orbit of Mars. Which meant that the rest of the trip will be on main engine power.. and the ship would lose the element of surprise.

Not that it mattered much, she realized. The ship's armor was tough enough to withstand blaster fire from all but the most advanced Predicon cruiser. And what defenses did earth even have at the target date? "she racked her processor as she discounted the human weapons immediately. The only Cybertronians that could pose a threat in space at her current entry point were Astrotrain and Skyfire.

She considered the possibility that they could find a way on board. Astrotrain, she could deal with easily, by proclaiming to be there on behalf of Megatron. Skyfire, on the other hand.. she would have to fight, and her tiny Vehicon body was under equipped to combat the more powerful mech. However, she did have more than plenty of time on her servos. Not to mention plenty of spare parts. An idea formed in her processor as she commanded her Vehicon drones to gather.

* * *

Blaster was monitoring the consoles diligently, trying his best to ignore the twins bickering in the background.. while attempting to decode the latest Decepticon transmission. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were about to come to blows when the alarms started to blare, causing Blaster to topple out of his chair in surprise.

"What in Primus' name is going on in here?" demanded Prowl as he stepped into the monitor room.

Sunny quickly ran to the console while his twin picked blaster up off the ground. "Ow.. my precious audios." Blaster grumbled.

"Beats me prowl. Teletraan-1 just detected a massive energy surge just beyond the orbit of Mars." Sunstreaker frowned as he tried to get an image on the screens.

The floor shook as a number of Autobots, Prime included, rushed to the monitor room to see what was going on, just in time for a fuzzy image of a large object was pulled into view. "What on Earth is that?" Spike exclaimed as he skidded into the room.

"It looks kinda like a ship, though.. not any configuration I've seen!" Jazz spoke as he hurried to help clear up the image.

"Where is it headed?" Optimus Prime asked calmly, his optics narrowed as his processor couldn't recall any craft matching that design either.

Having finally recovered, Blaster ran some quick calculations. "Its lookin' like it headed for Earth! I'm going to try contacting it and see if ti responds.. its pretty far out so it might take a while."

Optimus nodded. "How long till it reaches earth?" he asked.

"About two weeks, given the speed at which its moving. Its moving as fast as blur did when we gave him high grade." Sideswipe grinned briefly. "It doesn't seem to be slowing down any though, you would think they would be firing the retrorockets at this point... unless its got some crazy sort of drive system to slow it down from that speed."

"Keep me posted. Blaster, try every form of communication you can. Skyfire? If this thing gets much closer we're going to need you to try and scout it out. Everyone else, remain on alert until otherwise commanded." Optimus ordered.

"And if you two glitch heads pull any pranks while we're on alert, I'm doubling the punishment." Prowl snarled at the twins.

"Aww.. you're killing us Prowl!" the twins complained in unison.

"Not fast enough!" Prowl retorted as the other Autobots, and humans left the room.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Decepticon base, Megatron was receiving a report from Shockwave when the transmission guttered out. "Soundwave, report! What happened to the transmission?"

"Interference: Energy disruption detected. Re-connection: in progress." Sound wave replied as he quickly tried to restore communications with Cybertron.

"Never mind that, I can get the report later. Tell me, what is the source of the disruption?" Megatron demanded.

The other Decepticons murmured amongst themselves breifly before Soundwave spoke. "Source: Located. Large vessel detected. Configuration: Unknown. Allegiance: Unknown. Destination: Earth. ETA: Approximately two Earth weeks. Question: Attempt communication?" Soundwave glanced back to his monitor. "Autobots: Already attempting. Response: Pending."

Megatron frowned. "Attempt communication and monitor Autobot attempts. Jam theirs if necessary. And see if you can't restore communication with Cybertron. Hook, assist Soundwave with restoring communication with Cybertron. Starscream." Megatron glowered at the oddly silent seeker. "You're too quiet. What's keeping your processor so worked up that your vocalizer isn't working?"

Starscream was indeed quieter than normal, and Megatron wasn't far from the mark as to why. The former scientist could only think of a few things that could disrupt subspace communication. "I was thinking... anything that can disrupt our communications is either putting out an enormous amount of energy, or is disrupting space and time on a large scale. Either way, its power source must be incredible! If we were to intercept that vessel and take its power source.. think of all the energon we could make!"

Megatron rubbed his chin as he mulled it over. " I see what you mean, Starscream. Dispatch Astrotrain to scout and intercept when the vessel is within range. No doubt that traitor Skyfire will be doing much the same."

"As you wish, Megatron." Starscream stood and quickly left the room. Of course, he had his own plans on what to do with the energy.


	3. Chapter 2

**Transformers: Sins of future's past**

_by JupiterJones aka J.A. Franks_

_Disclaimer:_ All things Transformers belong to Hasbro and Takara-Tomy. I own nothing but the plot and Ocs.

_Setting: _G1/beastwars/beast machines continuity, except where it isn't. Divergent time-line, AU.

Chapter 2:

* * *

It had been over a week aboard the unnamed vessel and Patchwork was bored. She knew there had been several attempts to contact the ship, but between the increasingly unstable Plasma Energy Core, and the lack of a transmitter array.. she could do little more than wait.. and make faces at Optimus Prime's image.

At least that little addition went well. She mused. Gone was that horrid, expressionless faceplate and visor. She now had a face! A glorious and wonderful face! The body wasn't half bad either.. even if the paint didn't match and the welds were a little obvious. She chuckled at herself. Earlier, she had the drones scrounge up every spare part they could find.. and even located a blank protoform from one of the old vessels they had used to build this one. It appeared to be an older model, slated for destruction after the great upgrade, but still viable for her purposes.

It had taken the better part of the week to piece it all together and test every system. Then came the real task. She had to cobble together a spark transfer system out of spare parts, while still maintaining control over the drones doing the transfer. It was slow, and painful, oh Primus did it ever hurt! But when her new optics came online, and she saw her pathetic, underpowered frame laying limp before her.. she couldn't help but smile.

Her new body was much taller, putting her on par with most Autobots and some Decepticons. Not to mention it was distinctly more feminine in design! The vehicon body she once inhabited was ugly and misshapen in every sense of the word. Built out of practical need, it was barely more than a number of tools mounted on a pair of arms and legs. Her only lament was that the Cybertronian alt mode of her new body was more on the lines of a small based vehicle... rather than something powerful. Still, she managed to pack it with with the most powerful gun she could install in it. The weapon was based off an old Earth design, firing hundreds of shards of molten slag into an enemy or, with a flip of a switch, a white hot energy slug instead.

She was contemplating a weapons test on her old frame when the ship's computers alerted her to the presence of two rapidly approaching signals. One Autobot. One Decepticon. Just as she figured would happen. Now it was time for phase two... Getting Astrotrain's attention, while not alerting the Autobot nitwit.

Though, she wondered why they weren't firing at each other.

* * *

The Ark was brimming with activity. Spike and Carly were glued to the monitor room as the oddly shaped craft drew closer. Its blurry form had only recently become distinct enough to see.

"Just look at it, it looks like it was bolted together from a bunch of parts! The 'fins' aren't the same size and shape, the paint is at least five different colors, and the front of the thing is just darn weird looking!" Spike huffed.

"I don't know.. the three prong hull would probably look quite menacing if it was all one color. I just don't get why they haven't tried to communicate." Carly remarked.

Jazz chuckled as he stepped into the monitor room. "Are you two really that bored? There has to be something better to do than stare at the monitor."

Sunstreaker grumped. "Well there would, if that thing's energy field hadn't knocked out all the good channels on TV.. and a certain no fun bot banned us from our own quarters."

"Well, I can't blame for it Prowl this time. This is sort of serious business, ya dig? Pit, this thing knocked out NORAD! Maybe the cats up there are having problems, and can' respond.. it may be why that energy field is so big. Iff'n thats the case we need to get over there and help before they crash inta' Earth!" Jazz reminded. "Its bad enough that we think that Skyfire will be flyin' blind up there. The only good thing is that if the Con's send up Astrotrain, he'll be in tha same boat as we are!"

"And we're pretty sure they will be sending him." Blaster added. "Soundwave's been trying every trick in the book to re-contact Cybertron, and a few ones even I haven't seen before. And he's coming up short. Ol' bucket head must be furious! I suppose the only comfort we got in this whole deal is that Megatron obviously didn't send for it."

"Speaking of space capable Cybertronians, how soon will Skyfire be departing?" Sideswipe asked. "I'm a little annoyed we won't be taking the trip with him!"

"Cool your jets, 'swipe. He'll be departing in less than an hour. We can't go because we don't have the shielding he does, and event hen we had to have 'jackie and Ratch' add some extra protection just in case! Ratchet seems ta' have the idea in his processor flying into the sun would be safer.. and he won't say why." Jazz rubbed hid chin, as he contemplated Ratchet's mysterious silence.

"You know, I haven't seen all that much of Prime and Elita lately.. where have they been?" Spike wondered.

"Locked in Prime's office. Yall's government has been pestering them both all week for answers, answers we don't have. I figure they been blowing off some steam in between conference calls, or just taking a light stasis nap in the one place they can hide." Jazz shrugged, then looked off as he suddenly received a comm. "Well I'll be dipped in water and crome plated. Prowl just tossed Ironhide in the brig! Apparently he kept trying to get Skyfire to take him with him.. and when asking nice wouldn't work... he started well.. being Ironhide." Jazz chuckled.

"What?! And we missed it!? Aww man.. we gotta go see this!" the twins said in unison as the bolted for the doors.

Jazz barely stepped out of the way as he watched them leave. "Also, Skyfire actually left an orn ago, we jus' didn' want those two to know when he was leaving." Jazz chuckled. "A'hm willin' to bet tha' 'cons have already sent their bot out too. Not that we'd know 'cuz of all the interference."

"You know.. the 'Cons have been.. oddly quiet." Blaster noted. "You don't think..?"

"Naw, the 'Cons can be dumb, but they aren't _that_ dumb. Its likely they're shoring up their base just so if that thing hits, it'll be protected.. being underwater and all.. its got good protection." Jazz noted.

"And the Ark is embedded in a mountainside.. we should have some fairly decent protection ourselves." Spike added.

"Decent or not, it looks like the ship is slowing quickly. The amount of G's this thing must be pulling must mean the crew is either really tough.. or.." Carly trailed off in thought.

"Or there ain't nobody on board." Jazz supplied.

* * *

Starscream scowled when Megatron insisted, and Hook backed him up, that Astrotrain scout the ship alone, and attempt to take command of the vessel. But no, energon and resources were low.. and Hook proclaimed only Astrotrains hardened systems would suffice to function so close to the energy field the ship was producing. Never mind that he, the mighty Starscream! Had already devised a way to protect his systems while being so close to the source. And naturally, the purple fragger had already left! Now he's stuck 'reenforcing the hull' on the off chance he _can't_ stop it? This was an outrage!

"Aww, does the all powerful Air Commander have his thrusters in a knot?" Slipstream crooned.

"Oh frag off femme! Can't you see I'm busy?" Starscream snarled.

"Oh yes.. quite busy. Busy wearing the plating thin with your pacing, and looking like something from a comedy sketch." She remarked snidely.

Starscream snorted, his turbines revving. "What. Do. You. Want?"

"Its not about what I want.. well it is, but Hook asked me to retrieve you... he wanted your.. opinion.. on something." She shrugged.

"Then why didn't you say so in the first place? Instead of being a pain in my aft!" Starscream accused as he shoved his way past the slighter seeker.

"Because its more fun this way!" She called out as Starscream wound his way into the bowls of the ship.

While the other Constructicons were out working on the ship, Hook was studying a wire frame model of the vessel as Starscream approached. "About time you made it down here, Starscream. I need your.. expertise as a scientist."

Starscream almost spoke when he noticed the irregularities on the wire frame model. "Hmm, is this what you called me down here for? The craft looks rather, misshapen."

Hook nodded. "It makes very little sense from a.. structural perspective. The engines, the drive system, it all looks tacked on. There is far too much re-enforcing structure on the forward hull sections. Even if it was built or repaired from scavenged craft.. there should at least be a discernible bridge or docking bay. And if it was a weapon, why would it be slowing down? The kinetic energy alone would be more effective than an explosive."

"Hmm, I would have to agree. Its a pity we can' get an in depth scan from here. Those structural supports make no sense for a deep space craft... unless." Starscream tilted his helm to the side a moment.. then moved to rotate the image until the hull was pointed down. Both of their optics growing wide as the design suddenly made sense. "Its not a ship.. its a.. mining probe?"

Hook shook his head. "Was a mining probe, its been reinforced considerably.. and the mining beam emitter has been covered up or removed... I had thought only a few of those had been built."

"If memory serves, we lost them in the early part of the war. Looks like someone found one and built a ship around it. But why send it here? And why does it have so much power? Warping space time to appear like it did shouldn't require so much energy. I've done the calculations!" Starscream hissed.

Hook arched a brow ridge at Starscream before nodding and turning back to the craft. "So we're back at the drawing board then. How much do you think the Autobots have figured out by now?"

"Probably nothing. Very few Autobots know of the probe's existance. They were a Decpticon.. "side project" at best." Starscream frowned. "The Scientist.. Wheeljack might. But he probably wouldn't know any more than we do at this moment."

"So we wait for Astrotrain to tell us more."

"If he survives.."

* * *

Skyfire and Astrotrain scowled at each other from the distance they were both flying apart. Timing was critical. Neither could afford to fight each other... not with targeting and radar systems on the blink. And it wasn't a simple matter of fly to ship and fly back. No.. they had to slow down.. then accelerate away from the ship at some point.. to almost match its speed in order to not impact it's hull.

On the bright side, Skyfire mused, he couldn't hear Astrotrain hurl insults at him with their comms being jammed. Or so he thought. Apparently Astrotrain had figured out that he could transmit data short range with a low powered laser beam. And, much to Skyfire's annoyance, it was full of taunts and insults. Thankfully, the triplechanger's words ceased after a few moments, as Skyfire opted to ignore them. ::Perhaps he got bored?:: He thought as he executed his retrograde burn.

The real reason, however, for Astrotrain's abrupt silence, was a tight beamed message, transmitted via laser, just as he was doing earlier to Skyfire. It took a few moments to recall the Decepticon encryption, it was certainly an old cypher to say the least! He carefully responded to the signal, altering his rotation just enough so that Skyfire would be les slikely to catch onto what he was doing. "Who is this? And for the record, that cypher is older than my carrier is!"

Patchwork was thrilled when she finally got a response! She was lucky that one of the guidance lasers was easily hacked and able to transmit data this way. Though she only had an old database of Decepticon cyphers to try and use.. wells he could of tried the newer ones, but she had no way of knowing if any of them would have been recognized. "This is Patchwork, requesting evac assistance from this vessel! You are Astrotrain, correct? I have priority information for Megatron!"

"How the slag do you know my name? Never mind... Maybe you can save me some time with this mission, so I can go blast Skyfire out of my airspace!" Astrotrain responded.

"No time to fully explain, I'm just a hitchhiker on this thing! I'd tell you what I know, but I want you to get me off first! If I just up and told you you'd leave me behind!" Patchwork accused.

"Heh, smart bot. How do I get you off this thing? I'm not seeing any hatches or docking bays" Astrotrain frowned internally as his sensors told him very little.

"In one minute, the outer sheath will jettison, leaving only the device and the retro rockets for it to begin its decent on Earth. Position yourself near the stubby looking fin on the port side, when the sheath goes.. I'll be nestled just under it, ready for pickup." She grinned, having left the part out about the actual docking port that was welded shut by her own hands before she relocated herself to the pre-arranged position.

Skyfire was.. perplexed to say the least. No identifying markings, and patchwork job on welding armor onto the outer hull. But he was more surprised when whole chunks started flying off! In fact, he was far to busy dodging the sheer mass of armor and assorted components to notice Astrotrain picking up the small femme and blasting off back towards earth.


	4. Chapter 3

**Transformers: Sins of future's past**

_by JupiterJones aka J.A. Franks_

_Disclaimer:_ All things Transformers belong to Hasbro and Takara-Tomy. I own nothing but the plot and Ocs.

_Setting: _G1/beastwars/beast machines continuity, except where it isn't. Divergent time-line, AU.

Chapter 3:

* * *

The ride to Earth aboard Astrotrain's cargo bay was long and frustrating, Patchwork thought. The triplechanger continuously annoyed her with questions she did not want to answer until she had made it to Lord Megatron. Thankfully they were making good headway, as the vessel was still slowing down and adjusting its course to be relative to Earth's orbit before it would begin touchdown.

Astrotrain, however, had other worries. If the femme was lying about having important information to share, he surely would be punished. Patchwork, however, seemed disinclined to trust him with the information. She looked to be in rough shape from what he could tell, and her frame lacked any identifying marks or emblems. But she claimed to have vital information for Lord Megatron.. so she had to be a Decepticon right? Well if she wont share information on the massive thing looming behind them, perhaps she'll answer.. other questions, he thought. "So... You're pretty banged up looking.. you know that? Did you lose your Decepticon emblem or something when you patched yourself up? I don't think I've seen a bot with your design before. Are you even Decepticon?"

Patchwork vented in annoyance, even theses questions were difficult to answer without revealing too much. "Yes I know how I look, and I've always been a supporter to the Decepticon cause. Unfortunantly, due to certain circumstances I cannot reveal just yet, I never received a Decepticon emblem. But, I suspect that may change soon." She grinned as she felt the tell tale bump, of Astrotrain hitting atmosphere. "Once I reveal all my information to Megatron, I will be able to answer more questions freely. What is our ETA?"

Astrotrain almost hesitated to respond when she revealed that she wasn't officially a Decepticon. However, she did say she was a supporter, but that would mean she was either a neutral or third faction that had escaped the notice o Megatron. If she was telling the truth, and that was a big if, then this could be an attempt by her.. faction to be recognized by Megatron as allies. But she claimed to be a hitch hiker, so the opposite could be true, and she is a defector. Astrotrain's processor whirled at the possible meanings, only to be jarred out of thought whens he asked what their ETA was. "Just a few moments. Can you at least tell me if that thing back there.. or rather.. up there, is good or bad?"

Patchwork grinned. "When I reveal the information, Megatron will be very pleased."

Astrotrain smiled to himself, letting himself feel reassured by the femme's words at the least, it wasn't long before they had arrived at the extended landing pad and started to travel down to the hidden Decepticon base. He immediately noticed that an extra foot foot of reinforcing had been added to the walls of the elevator shaft, making it that much tighter. "Blasted Constructicons, couldn't they put the re-enforcing plating on the outside? It claustrophobic enough as it is!"

Patchwork chuckled as the doors eventually opened to the hallway, letting Astrotrain lead the way to Megatron. "Its more resource efficient to build up the inside first. Besides, I bet they added an extra layer on the outside too. Though it was unnecessary, since the device isn't a kinetic weapon."

"And just what _is _this device, femme?" Starscream screeched as he and Megatron loomed at the end of the hallway.

"Astrotrain, you better have a good explanation for your failure to capture the vessel!" Megatron yelled, leveling his cannon at the larger triplechanger.

"If I may, O' Mighty Lord Megatron." Patchwork quickly bowed to one knee. "I come bearing information, and tidings from the future. As per your contingency plan." She grinned as the other bots looked at her and Megatron with a confused expression. Only Megatron seemed to know what she was talking about.

"So, my message had been discovered and decoded, has it? I assume that this means the future of the Decepticon cause had become grim. Tell me, femme. What information have you brought me that is so vital, and why is there no army accompanying you?" Megatron commanded in a strangely calm tone.

"My Lord, there simply are no armies to send. However, instead the descendants of the Decepticon cause have crafted a device that can change the tide of the future once it is activated." Patchwork paused a moment to glance up Megatron before speaking, he seemed to be patiently waiting for her to finish. "A great many things had come to pass since the fall of the Decepticons, however it is most clear that it was the assistance of Earth's pathetic little organics that somehow tipped the balance of the war in the Favor of the Autobots. This device shall remedy that by eliminating all the organic life on this planet, Cyberforming it entirely and potentially turning it into a new Cybertron. The Humans, as we know them will cease to be.. though what they will become is unknown. The one who claimed your name and had conquered Cybertron, only to be deposed by the Autobot Decendants, seemed to believe that they would go mad from the conversion. Unfortunately, he had no pure organics to test it on... let alone sentient ones. Reguardless, the course of history shall be changed, and the Decepticons will have their second chance!" Patchwork rose to her pedes as she spoke. "All hail Megatron!" She cheered, grinning widely at the impassive Lord Megatron.

"Lord Megatron." Starscream whispered. "If what she says is true, we'll have more than just Energon, we would have an entire _planet_ of resources to plunder. Surely the Autobots would falter when their beloved organic friends are converted to technomatter."

"Enough Starscream, I know what this could mean for us." Megatron narrowed his optics at Patchwork. "Fix this femme up, and give her the emblems befitting a proper Decepticon. The rest of you, prepare to defend the craft from an Autobot assault! If they figure out what its actual purpose is, they will stop at nothing to prevent it." Meatron began to turn away before stopping to ask, "What is your designation, femme?"

"My designation is Patchwork, Lord Megatron." She responded, bowing her head to him once more.

"Patchwork..." Megatron held back a smirk at how fitting the name appeared to be. "When you are repaired, come to the conference room, there you can tell me.. about this future that will be soon undone."

"As you wish, Lord Megatron." Patchwork turned as a bot she assumed was Mixmaster beckoned her to follow him.

"Hook and Knockout are this way, they'll get you patched up properly." Mix master commented as patchwork hid her grin. Everything was going according to plan!

::Line::

Meanwhile, on the Ark. Wheeljack and Perceptor were looming over a view-screen with the latest data brought to them by Jetfire. Most everyone else in the base had sequestered themselves away to prepare for a possible disaster. Even Spike and Carly where nowhere to be seen. Optimus frowned as he entered the lab and approached the two. "Anything to report?"

Wheeljack shoo his head, his fins flashing in annoyance as he spoke. "It looks like a mining probe, but I can tell its been stripped down to the essentials and then armored up. No gun emplacements on the hull, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say the mining beam was removed and replaced with something else."

"The design defies logic for an offensive device. It has a massive energy signature, and clearly capable of speeds that would decimate the planet with impact. Instead it appears to be attempting a landing." Perceptor added in his emotionless voice. "Its purpose remains unknown."

"Jetfire's investigation revealed the hatches were all sealed shut and barricaded. He was unable to get inside to learn more. My guess is that maybe it was meant to slam into Earth, but is malfunctioning? Because it would seem to be following the basic programming of the mining probe it was made out of." Wheeljack stated as he pointed to its altered orbital path. "We won't know until it lands... and according to this.. that should be Jasper, Nevada."

Prime shook his head. "Have the people been evacuated from this town?"

"Unfortunately not, Prime." Wheeljack's vocal fins glowed a pale blue. "Attempts to communicate have been increasingly difficult. Our own comms are safe for now, especially while inside the Ark, but only land line communication is working, and only if there isn't a wireless break between land lines."

"We'll dispatch a team to try and evacuate the town. How much time do we have?" Prime asked.

"ETA is twelve hours, 42 minutes and 5 seconds." Perceptor responded.

Prime grimaced behind his faceplate before tapping into the comms. ::Attention all Autobots. Prepare to transport to Jasper Nevada to begin evacuations. We have 12 hours to evacuate the city. Leave for jasper As soon as you are ready, understood?:: Prime mentally ticked off the rplies as they flowed in through the comms, then loocked to Wheeljack and Perceptor. "You two stay here and try to see if you can find out anything else about the craft." He then turned to leave the lab. "I pray that this is unnecessary."


	5. Chapter 4

**Transformers: Sins of future's past**

_by JupiterJones aka J.A. Franks_

_Disclaimer:_ All things Transformers belong to Hasbro and Takara-Tomy. I own nothing but the plot and Ocs.

_Setting: _G1/beastwars/beast machines continuity, except where it isn't. Divergent time-line, AU.

_Note:_ I did say its G1 except where it isn't right? Well we will have a few Prime characters here and there, not to mention others as they appear. ;)

Chapter 4:

* * *

The vessel loomed in the sky above Jasper, Nevada. Its hull gleaming brightly in the sun as it was slowly descending. At first, it appeared only as a tiny dot, but as it loomed lower it soon became the largest object in the sky... and it had only just breached the atmosphere. Jackson and June Darby had already packed their bags and where already trying to escape the town when the Autobots showed up.

One by one, cars were being loaded into the cargo bay of Skyfire or were escorted out through the gridlock of abandoned vehicles that had amassed father down the road. Thankfully, Jasper was a small town, and it had only taken Skyfire two trips to collect everyone in the city. A handful of Autobots rode along with them, trying to keep everyone calm. Miko and Raf, as Jack soon learned their names, had found and befriended two of the Autobots, Bulkhead and Bumblebee. June Darby had gone off to check on the few people with medical issues, leaving Jack to his thoughts.

"Hey, kid?" Arcee called out to the oddly silent Jack. "You okay over there? Everyone else is asking questions faster than even Blurr can answer.. but you're being quiet."

Jack frowned at the blue and pink Autobot. "I just got a lot on my mind, that's all. Why do you care? You aren't the ones who have to leave their homes."

Arcee rolled her optics. Great, teen angst. She was only trying to be supportive. "You don't think I know how that feels? All of us had to leave our homes long ago.. we know exactly how it feels. So don't give me that line. Yes it sucks, but you have two options, either sit there and mope like some sad sack of bolts, or get over it and prepare for what's ahead."

Jack looked up at her again, about o respond when Skyfire's voice cracked over the intercom. "We're fixed to land, everyone sit tight and hold on, don't need anyone falling over and getting hurt!"

"Well, here's our stop, buckle in and try to remain positive.. hopefully everything will turn out okay in the end." Arcee added ass eh took a seat in an empty spot in the cargo hold.

Meanwhile, back in Jasper. Wheeljack and Perceptor were watching a view screen that was monitoring the craft when Hound and Ironhide walked up behind them. Hound spoke first. "All the scanners are in place, and it appears it will land somewhere on the northern part of Jasper, a few houses will probably be demolished.. but the rest of it will be out in the dessert."

"If its a weapon, then its either got bad landing coordinates, or its powerful enough to not matter. But it still doesn't make much sense as a weapon." Ironhide supplied.

Hound off-lined his optics briefly as an idea occurred to him. "Unless of course its designed to do something that minimally impacts the environment. That might account for it landing in the dessert rather than elsewhere."

Wheeljack looked at Hound and Ironhide both as he mulled over the possibility when Perceptor interjected. "Possible. However, it still makes little sense to have such a device be in a single object such as this, when multiple smaller ones are more resource efficient, and more reliable overall. Any possible effects I have calculated could be achieved by a number of other ways that do not require such enormous amounts of energy, as exhibited by the vessel."

"What is more concerning is the disruption of spacetime surrounding the craft. Though the engines that generated the initial field are gone, the disruption persists. And I can't fathom why." Wheeljack's vocal fins glowed a dim pink color in both annoyance and embarrassment.

Ironhide shook his helm. "And not even a peep out of the cons. You would think they would be all over this thing like Scraplets on fresh metal. Any word from the US military? I thought they would have been attempting airstrikes by now."

"We've seen a few scout craft fly around up there, but no attacks yet. The inability to get a comm signal out is probably hampering their ability to launch cruise missiles or any other guided missile for that matter. Skyfire reported a tank battalion headed this way before our long range comms went out as well. We got two hours till touchdown, and we still don't have any solutions for getting in there before it does anything. The Aerialbots took a few pot shots at it, but the armor is just too thick. I suspect General Morshower is going to attempt to concentrate fire on a single spot, with the Aerielbots assisting. That might be enough to punch a small hole in the armor." Wheeljack noted.

Just as Ironhide was about to respond, several missiles streaked overhead, followed the distant booming of tank cannons, Followed by the bright beams from the Arielbots laser bursts. "Looks like you were right about that." Ironhide mused as several human aircraft unloaded a dazzling array of firepower upon a single section of the vessel's armor. The barrage lasted for a full minute, and scraps of metal rained from the sky onto the town below. But when the smoke cleared, the damage appeared minimal at best. "You gotta be kidding me!" Ironhide revved his engine in frustration. "That amount of firepower could of blown a hole right through a mountain! And its barely even damaged?"

Perceptor zoomed into the damaged area with the console. "It would appear to not be entirely unsuccessful. One of the shells opened up a small hole, just large enough for a human to fit inside." He noted as Powerglide flew into view, hovering about the hole before departing for where the army had positioned themselves. "Well that solves the problem of informing the General. However, I worry that we will not have enough time to do anything, even with soldiers inside the craft."

Ironhide nodded after a moment of consideration. "Yeah, by the time they get back in there, they'll only have maybe an hour to figure it out and stop it... if they even can stop it."

* * *

Unbeknownst to the Autobots, Laserbeak had been silently recording the entire attack, before taking off to report to his master. Upon his return, and playback of the scene, Megatron was the first to speak. "Well, Patchwork, it seems the armor is preventing the Autobots from stopping the device, but what is to stop the humans from shutting it down from the inside?"

Patchwork grinned viciously, her new paint-job gleamed in the minimal lighting of the command room... styled to look like riveted metal plates, while not bearing any actual seams or scars.. she could honestly say she never looked better as she responded to Lord Megatron. "A number of factors, my Lord. From their location alone it would take quite some time to work their way up to the computer controls, during which they would have to contend with the anti organic security system. Even if they did make it past the security, disabling the computer would not disable the device, as it has its own control system in place. Hacking the computer would likewise be a fruitless endeavor, since the more advanced system would reject any commands that do not carry the Decepticon passcodes. Passcodes, that where not invented until near the end of the war."

Megatron smirked. "Very good. I see that we are fortunate that your former master managed to temper his arrogance with preparation. Perhaps he was indeed worthy of carrying my name." Megatron chuckled darkly. "How amusing it is, to see the Autobots and humans struggle in vain to stop something they don't even understand. It's a pity your master isn't here to.. enjoy this moment."

Starscream however, looked perplexed as he spoke. "How is it that this does not invoke paradox? Shouldn't this very act rewrite history and eliminate the reason for this to even be attempted?"

Patchwork shrugged. "There was an earlier attempt, that proved time can in fact be altered without affecting the actors who altered time itself. It is increasingly likely that an event of this magnitude will spawn a second time line, that differs from the one I came from. The ship's very presence has already begun to affect it. Furthermore, the fact I am here, yet this incident never occurred in the annuls of history means that there must be something to this theory... elsewise I would never be here."

"Fair.. enough." Starscream relented. "We will know for certain when and if the device goes off. For your sake, you better hope your former master's plans work as advertised." He warned.

"Something in my spark tells me I have nothing to fear. Especially not from the likes of you." Patchwork chuckled.

"Watch your mouth, femme." Starscream snarled.

* * *

Lt. Alice J. Maher, squirmed in Powerglide's cockpit. It felt so very odd to not be flying the aircraft. Let alone the fact the aircraft was a sentient alien robot. But she held her tongue, she had a mission to do. She was the only pilot on hand that was small enough to ride while carrying all the equipment she might need to try and disable the device. Naturally that included satchel charges and a very quick explanation on how to use them. On the bright side, if she was successful, she would be a hero.. and probably on the fast track to promotion. She had almost bit her tongue when Powerglide transformed in mid air, catching her and hover just within reach of the hole.

"Sorry for the wild ride, but we don't have time to take it easy." Poweglide stated as he helped her get inside. "Good luck, Lieutenant!" And with that he was off, leaving Lt. Maher all alone inside the alien vessel.

"Isn't this how horror movies start?" She muttered as she began her ascent through the tangle of supports and cables. Freezing in place whens he heard something moving on the other side of the bulkhead. She took a chance peek through the seams to spot the menacing robot mindlessly patrolling up and down the vertical shaft. It seemed to not have noticed her movements on the other side of the bulkhead. Still she waited until it had gone well past her before she continued on. She could judge from the robot that the creators must not have been able to fit in between the bulkheads. She then checked her watch, 45 minutes to touch down.. she had to hurry.

After nearly thirty more minutes of climbing, she finally spotted what appeared to be the control room. However, she had a problem. Well, several problems. A number of identical looking robots were hovering around the massive consoles, with the occasional very tiny robot flitting in between them. The smaller ones seemed almost comical in appearance.. and couldn't be any larger than her head. Still, this meant she couldn't get near the console without attracting attention. She nearly cursed out loud when she heard something beep far above. She peered upwards.. straining to see the source, when she noticed the ovoid looking object suspended above the center of the room. Bingo, she thought and began to climb upwards to try and work herself closer to it.

Ten minutes to go, and she had only just barely managed to squeeze out of a hole unnoticed. She suspected that whatever used to be in that hole was removed when this device was added. Every little bit she saw seemed to point at the idea that the entire thing had been modified from a less advanced vessel... and perhaps she might have been wrong about her earlier assumptions on size. As she crept down the catwalk above the lower chamber, she couldn't help but notice how.. almost human sized the consoles looked. Still, she didn't have time to waste, she knew full well that there was likely little to no hope of hacking into the alien computers, so instead she began to ready her charges as she crept closer to the device in the center... only to feel the sudden sharp pain of metal hitting her squarely in the back as one of the smaller drones tackled her.

Her watch beeped as she wrestled with the bot, she could hear the whining engines of the larger ones below, but she couldn't fathom why they weren't coming. She twisted in its grip, it was strong for such a tiny thing, thus making the action painful. Her watched beeped again and she saw the countdown begin. She grimaced as she prepared for impact.

The vessel shook and shuddered, metal paneling broke free and fell, crushing some of the robots below. Lt. Maher would probably had bounced off the catwalk had the small robot not have pinned her there securely. Still, the impact was enough for her to shake it off and break free of it's grip. The device hummed behind her, its pitch growing steadily louder as she struggled to find the satchel charges. She spotted one hanging at the bare edge of the catwalk and dashed for it. This time she was bowled over the edge by the smaller robot, as she fell, time seemed to slow down. She saw the doors slide open, revealing the dessert below, she felt the strange heat of the beam when the device activated. After that, she felt nothing. She saw nothing. Only the white void.

"This should not be." A voice said.

"A great tragedy has taken place." Said another.

"What is done, cannot be undone. Its power is too great." A third spoke.

"There is hope. In the them. Let us guide their path just a little, and perhaps.. a greater tragedy can be avoided." Said yet a fourth.

"Very well. So we shall." Said the others in unison.

Impact. The Lt. Felt the cold hard ground beneath her, her vision flicking in and out. Something didn't feel right. But she was alive, she realized. Her body felt sluggish and cold. There was warmth in her chest, that much she could tell. Sounds drifted in and out, just like her vision.. interrupted by.. static? Something definitely wasn't right. Glyphs and symbols drifted across her vision. In between the static, she saw a metallic face.. red and white.. he was shouting something, she didn't understand. He look panicked. Then.. blessed darkness. A a strange dream began to play out in her mind. One of a future that would never come.. and one that may yet be possible.


	6. Chapter 5

**Transformers: Sins of future's past**

_by JupiterJones aka J.A. Franks_

_Disclaimer:_ All things Transformers belong to Hasbro and Takara-Tomy. I own nothing but the plot and Ocs.

_Setting: _G1/beastwars/beast machines continuity, except where it isn't. Divergent time-line, AU.

Chapter 5:

* * *

Lt. Alice J. Maher. That was her name, she was sure of it. She could remember her life clearly, from her first birthday to the fateful moment where she fell to the ground. Am I dead? She wondered. No answer, just black nothingness. The strange lucid dreams she had, played out for what could have been seconds, but might as well been an eternity. Now, she was just waiting. For what? She wondered. Then, a single pin prick of light appeared, quickly followed by a rushing sea of information. It was almost overwhelming.. but soon.. it slowed to a stop. She was aware of things now, not everything. But some things. Something told her how much time had was passing... a little numberless clock that ticked away at the edge of her perception. There were other things too, things she could not think of how to describe.

Slowly lines seemed to play out in her vision... like a screen held squarely in front of her eyes. It didn't make sense at first, but slowly the information sank in and the lines became words. **Start up sequence: Initializing. Reboot and system patch: Successful. External command source: CMO Ratchet recognized. Diagnostic start up: Initialized. Audio Receptors: Online.** The sudden rush of sound was almost overwhelming, she tried to cringe but couldn't feel her own face. It didn't make any sense, it was too loud and sh tried to will it away. **Recalibrating. **The noise immediately died down almost to the point of silence before finding a.. 'happy medium' she could tolerate. And finally she could make out the words being spoken.

"Hold on a minute, I'm still bring you back online." Ratchet said in a weary voice.

**Comm system online. **She almost shouted at the voice when an error message blared in her head. It took her a few tries until something 'clicked' in her mind and she 'tapped' the comm channel that was now open. ::What is going on? Why can't I see? What has happened to me?:: She almost begged over the comms.

"That's.. a complicated story." Ratchet groused as he fiddled with her systems. "The short version is you got converted into something.. well very similar to a Cybertronian at the minimum, if not a Cybertronian outright. That is why.. you actually survived your fall like you did."

Cybertronian? She thought, was he saying that she was one of those giant robots now? "But.. how?"

"The device.. you failed to stop.. well we believe it Cyberformed your planet.. and everything living on it.. we don't know if that's 100 percent true yet.. but.. its looking that way. To tell the truth, everything is chaos right now I stabilized as many as I could and shared what medical knowledge I had... Hold on a sec." Ratchet frowned as he made another adjustment.

**Vocal systems: Online.** Alice tried to speak but her words came out mangled. After a few more tweaks she could speak normally. "... what do you mean? What is going on?" Her voice seemed metallic to her ears.. or rather audios? She wasn't sure which was the right term.

"I'm getting to that!" Ratchet huffed. "There are bots going out trying to help as many as they can.. and share the information needed to help save more. You, however, still took a nasty fall. Your newly sprouted wings slowed your descent some. Primus knows why every single one of you are developing alt forms. But.. back on.. subject.. I had to do a lot of repairs to your frame. You been out for a while now." Ratchet made another tweak and strange HUD type overlay appeared in the Alice's vision. "So, I need to bring you online slowly, and make sure everything is functioning correctly." Ratched grunted as he brought another set of systems online.

**All sensors: Online.** She grimaced again as information assaulted her mind. Thankfully it was quick to normalize into what she would consider, normal sensation. "Jeezus! I thought you were only going to bring everything up one at a time?"

Ratchet frowned. "Sorry. But for some Pit of a reason, your sensory switches are all crammed in next to each other."

Alice turned her optics toward Ratchet, and it dawned on her that he looked extremely worn. "You've been working non-stop, haven't you?"

Ratchet nodded. "Indeed I have... I'm surprised you noticed. Most of the bots.. err humans.. that I've treated didn't take the transformation well. Had to restrain a few until they calmed down. You're taking this.. surprisingly well at least. Almost as well as Spike and Carly did."

"I think I'm just in shock... I'm at a loss at how I should feel.. to be honest." **Servo motors: Initializing. **She off-lined her optics briefly.. blinking them essentially.. in confusion. She then lifted her own hand to her face. It looked so strange to her and her movements were jerky and stiff. But as she turned her hand over to examine it, her movements became smoother, no doubt from Ratchet's tinkering.

"That would be expected." Ratchet hrmmed before he unplugged his diagnostic tools from her helm and closed it up. It was a curious sensation to her, to say the least. "Your systems look functional, but don't try to stand or do anything just yet. I want your to move your individual servos around until the movement seems smooth, and if anything seems to be sticking or hurts, let me know so I can fix it quickly." Ratchet Ordered, watching the once human, now Cybertronian femme, slowly move around on the table. "You know, all you humans seem to have your processors wired in two separate configurations in your helm. One half looks damn near Praxian, the other is a bit more like something I would see out of a Vos built bot. The fact it works so well is a mite bit strange."

Alice managed a chuckle, her turbines suddenly whining to take in more air. "Ratchet, I've no idea what a Praxian or a Vos built bot is.. but it sounds like how the human brain has always been wired. One side logical, the other.. err.. emotional?" She grinned, then realized she needed to move her facial servos around as well, so she wound up making faces at Ratchet.

"That.. yeah, that's about right. Praxians are overly logical by most bot's definitions." Ratchet offered a weak chuckle before he vented tiredly. "Hmm your turbines are slightly off pitch. That should work itself out after a few days, keep an optic on it, if it gets worse or is still there when I do my next check up on you, I'll have to see what the problem is."

"Soo, turbines.. I transform into a jet?" Alice asked as her right wrist ground out something nasty from between the joints. "... I find that highly Ironic... being a pilot and all."

Ratchet too the writes and and pulled out a tool to better clean out the joint. "Yeah, well.. the theme seems to be something from your memory that you are most comfortable with." Ratchet chuckled suddenly. "We were expecting Morshower to become a tank."

Alice blinked her optics rapidly. "Were? What.. did he turn into?"

"A... Mini.. van." Ratchet snorted out. As they both started to laugh for several minutes, Ratchet helped Alice into a sitting position. "I'm sure, once he learns he can change that, he'll be first in line to get that little glitch fixed! Until then.. we're tempted to keep that little fact on the hush, just for all the hard times he's given us." Ratchet grinned. As serious as the last few days had been, he was happy to give into a little silliness. If only just this once. "Okay, easy now.. one pede at a time. Let your gyros handle the compensation."

Alice nodded as she chuckled to herself. As soon as her first pede hit the ground, she swayed.. barely catching herself before her gyros kicked in and started to take over. Soon she was standing on both her pedes and slowly walking as Ratchet directed her. "So.. when do I get to the part of transforming and flying?" She almost jerked as the suddenly felt the mental trigger in her mind.

"Transforming, you can do whenever you want. I triggered it a few times while you were offline, to make sure your T-cog was operating normally. Flying however... well.. On one hand.. You, being a former Pilot.. unlike a few of the local yahoos... Ahem! Know most of what you need to know already. However, seeing as there are some.. differences that you need to get used to. It is my suggestion you wait till the morning, and get with the Arielbots. They've been giving impromptu flight lessons all day yesterday, and Prime just passed word that he thinks it best they continue to teach. In the meantime.. wander around a bit, then grab some proper recharge. I'm headed to my berth myself before I accidentally hurt someone... Oh.. and another thing.. If a Red and Yellow pair of twins with Lambo alt modes get a little.. handsy.. Feel free to put as many dents in them as you wish before comming Prowl or Red Alert." Ratchet paused a moment. "Oh. Right, hang on a sec while I send you the comm frequencies you need."

Alice was just about to ask how Ratchet was going to do that when she saw the message prompt in her HUD. She accepted the download.. which included a pletora of information on how to operate her comms and data transfer systems. She smiled. "Thanks, and goodnight Ratchet... I got a lot ot think about now."

"Just do me a favor.. don't blow a processor circuit over it? I've fixed enough blown processors in the last few days to last me the rest of my life." Ratchet warned.

Alice simply shook her helm and stepped out into the Ark proper. Screw walking, she wanted to go out side and fly!

* * *

Meanwhile at the Decepticon base. There were some, technical difficulties. "Hook! How much longer until the base's power grid is back to normal?" Megatron bellowed.

"Just a few more hours, then we can work on restoring functionality to the elevator and the other shorted out systems." Hook responded.

::Look on the bright side. We won't be running out of fuel any time soon!:: Patchwork pinged over the comms as she pulled a circuit breaker free of its moorings.

"Look at the bright side she says.. Unfortunately its kind of hard to see anything BUT bright sides, in case you haven't noticed.. with every light in the entire base be stuck on!" Starscream screeched. "Of all the ironies.. being trapped under a entire _ocean_ of Energon was not one I had expected to be a problem!"

"Quiet Starscream! Knockout, report. What is the status of Soundwave?" Megatron commanded.

"He'll survive, if that is what you're asking, My lord. However, he was plugged directly into the comm array when it was overloaded, I'm afraid some.. changes will have to be made. Fixing some of this processor damage is far beyond the expertise of anyone shy of perhaps.. Bombshell. But I doubt we want him mucking about in Soundwave's processors... even if he was on board." Knockout stated.

"Very well, do what you can, Knockout. The rest of you.. I don't care what it is.. find some way to bleed off this excess power! Maybe then we can get the lights back down to a tolerable level!" Megatron shouted to the gathered Decepticons... who were all too gleeful to actually be ordered to waste time and resources in an effort to curb the excess power.


	7. Chapter 6

**Transformers: Sins of future's past**

_by JupiterJones aka J.A. Franks_

_Disclaimer:_ All things Transformers belong to Hasbro and Takara-Tomy. I own nothing but the plot and Ocs.

_Setting: _G1/beastwars/beast machines continuity, except where it isn't. Divergent time-line, AU.

Chapter 6:

* * *

Getting out of the Ark was easy enough. A number of bots were entering and leaving and not a one thought to stop Alice. Many where too wrapped up in their own personal trauma to even acknowledge her existence. But soon, she was out side. Free to think. And after a moments confusion with her new frame, and how to transform, she was off into the sky.

She had always loved flying, it was why Alice became a pilot in the first place. Up in the sky, her mind became clear.. and then she could truly think about what was going on. Sure, she now was the F-35 instead of just the pilot, but the transition seemed.. natural? She frowned internally as that thought process occupied her processor. Everyone else she saw seemed upset or angry, a handful seemed passive, and the one or two that almost seemed happy were familiar somehow. So, why was she content? Alice banked into a slow turn, dipping into a cloud and enjoying the sensation as she let that question stew for a moment.

Well, what did she loose? Alice wondered. She had her mind, and her life. She could still fly and actually being able to do that at will was in no small part a great boon for her. Family? She lost that years ago when she left to join the Air Force. They hadn't talked in years since then. Her human body? Well that was well and gone, but she found that she rather liked her new one much better. Alice was missing something, something important, and she knew it.

It wasn't until Alice dipped beneath the cloud and saw the land below when it hit her processor full tilt. She nearly stalled midair when she saw the trees, twisted into strange cybernetic spires. Her sensors picked out the unusual mechanical wildlife crashing through them below. The once placid lakes now glowing blue with Energon instead of water. Then there was the smoke in the distance. Someone had been fighting, or there was an accident.. or.. something. Fear gripped her spark. This is what she had lost. Her home, as she knew it was long gone. Its people and animals changed. And she had the sinking feeling that all of society was now in chaos.

Alice clenched her jaw as she poured on the thrust, shattering the sound barrier as she headed for the smoke. The city looked like a battle field as it rushed beneath her. Then she saw them. Two smaller bots huddled together while large bots were kicking them around. The store behind them had been torn open and looted. It was anarchy. Anger burned in her spark. She barely even realized that she had transformed when she struck the largest of the bots attacking the smaller pair. The impact sent him and metal bits flying into the open storefront. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size you snot nosed punks!" Alice screeched at the top of her voice, her turbines were revving hard, and these jerks were the _perfect_ outlet for her anger.

"Mind your own business, bitch!" Another shout as he swung a chained weapon at Alice.

Time seemed to slow again as combat protocols sprang to life. Lock. Tone. Fire. The commands poured through her mind like they belong there, second nature even. Alice had barely realized what she had just done out of instinct. The weapon on her forearm smoked and the offending thug now had a stub where his upper arm used to be. "I've _made_ it my business, Jerkwad. Now leave before I remove the other arm too!"

The thugs scrambled away in fear, the only she damaged was clutching his stub as he yelled back. "You'll pay for that!"

Alice vented her frustration as her combat protocols subsided.. then turned her attention to the two small bots huddled up against the store. They looked badly beaten, the smallest looked to be unconscious and the bigger one.. a femme, she gathered.. was leaking badly... getting them to a medic would be difficult.

* * *

"And you just let her fly on out of here without even asking her where she was going!?" Ratchet yelled at Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. "She just got out of medbay, and now we have no fraggin' clue what happened to her! If she comes back dead, I'm going to rebuild you both into toasters!"

"Whoaah! Calm your jets, Ratch' You have any idea how man new bots have been going in and out of the base right now? Besides, she's a jet right? She probably has the same programming issues most fliers have, they get twitchy when indoors too long." Jazz supplied, nodding to both twins who, wisely, decided to keep their mouths shut for once.

"I don't slaggin' care! All bots who have undergone Cyberforming need to be kept track of until we're certain they are okay! They could have life threatening glitches in their systems! We already have over a dozen on suicide watch alone!"

"Its good to hear you care.. Ratchet was it?" Alice smirked as she tromped into the slightly crowded med bay, carrying one tiny, badly beaten bot in her arms, and a tiny femme, just a little bit bigger than the other bot, was latched onto her back, nestled between her wings. "I would have been back sooner, but I underestimated how far I had traveled when I found these two. The little one is Samantha the other less little one is Avery. They need a medic.. If you're done yelling."

Ratchet's jaw hung open for a moment before he rushed over to pick up the smallest of the two. The little femme was beaten so badly it was almost difficult to tell she was a femme by just looking. Jazz reached up to pry the other one off Alice's back.

"C'mon little femme, lets get you on a table and get that damage looked at while Ratch' patches up your friend." Jazz asked softly, as Avery resisted.

"Nu uh! Alice saved us from the meanies! She came down like an angel and knocked the biggest meanie so hard, he went flying!" Avery clenched tighter. "I dun wanna leave her!"

"But we can't fix ya' if you don't let go. And Alice isn't going anywhere right now, she's gotta get fixed too. Besides, we gotta try and find your parents. I'm sure they're worried about you two."

Ratchet scowled. As he busily went about repairing the smaller one, he commed the other medics. ::First Aide, get your aft in here! You too swoop! You need the practice. We got two badly damaged younglings and a scuffed up femme in here and I need a hand!::

Avery's tiny little engine whined before she finally released her grip and let Jazz set her down on the table. "I'm Hungry.. and tired.."

Jazz shook his helm, as the two junior medics thundered into the room while Sunstreaker and Sideswipe slinked out of the room, taking advantage of Ratchet's distraction. "We'll get you some Energon, and you can rest later, little spark. Then we can get onto finding your family okay?"

"Oh.. kay.." Avery grumped.. leaning against Jazz.

Alice smirked, even as Ratchet started yelling at her for going out and getting damaged, she knew deep down in her spark, it was worth it to keep looking to the future.

* * *

Elsewhere, four bots were huddled in an alleyway, one was clutching the stump where his arm used to be, moaning in pain. Two others where trying to unstick the fourth's mangled jawplate. "Shit, that bitch with the wings nearly took your head off, Max." One of the other bots stated as the others tried to find something to possibly pry it apart.

"Jeeze what a pathetic bunch of bots." A feminine voice proclaimed from the shadows.

"What do you expect, Patch. These are the lowest of the low, hardly even worthy of our time." A masculine voice replied.

"Hey! We take exception to that! The flying bitch just had us out gunned is all!" One of the bots shouted back defensively.

"If we had better weapons and armor, she wouldn't have stood a chance!" The one with his missing arm retorted.

"So we can see. Tell you what." The masculine bot stepped out of the shadows, he was tall lanky, and his right arm was replaced with a hook. "What if I make you an offer? You swear allegiance to our boss, and we'll make you stronger. Give you the chance at power you deserve. What do you say about that?"

The four bots looked at each other, murmuring something quietly before looking back to the tall mech. "That all sounds well and good, but.. just who are you? And who is your boss?"

"Why the name's Lockdown!" He chuckled and took a bow. "And the lovely little femme behind me is Patchwork." He grinned as the femme stepped from the shadows at the mention of her name. "And I'm being paid top dollar to find recruits for Lord Megatron. Recruits looking to claim the power and wealth they rightfully deserve."

They glanced at each other for a moment before one spoke again. "Alright, were in. What do we gotta do to join ya'lls gang?"

"Your.. initiation will come later.. For now, just sit tight, and try not to scream. I got delicate audios." Patchwork grinned as her arms transformed into repair tools and the four bots looked at each other nervously. Their screams would soon fill the night... but they would be stronger for it. All according to Megatron's plan.

* * *

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	8. Chapter 7

**Transformers: Sins of future's past**

_by JupiterJones aka J.A. Franks_

_Disclaimer:_ All things Transformers belong to Hasbro and Takara-Tomy. I own nothing but the plot and Ocs.

_Setting: _G1/beastwars/beast machines continuity, except where it isn't. Divergent time-line, AU.

Chapter 7:

* * *

Patchwork grinned as she watched the slowly growing numbers of Bots that filtered through the makeshift 'Forward operations' base. Megatron's plan was working. It was a simple plan really. Locate and gather those who are discontent with their world's government, those who crave power, the low lifes the out of luck bots, anyone who could possibly be sympathetic to the Decepticon way of thinking, and convince them to join the cause. The weak will be culled, and the strong will survive. It was how Megatron started on Cybertron, and it would work here as well. Especially with the current amount of chaos and confusion in the land.

Right now, however, her task was simple. Patch up damaged bots and graft on whatever weapons and armor they could manufacture from local materials. Playing the part of 'benefactor' would only serve to improve their chances of successfully converting the populace. Then it was on to Phase Two. Civil war.

One of the new bots however, was busy admiring the femme's frame when a pointed hook dug into the seam in his armor.. pulling him around. "I know what you're processing and I'm going to advise against it." Lockdown spoke to the surprised mech.

"W-what are you talking about, man?" He stammered.

"Oh I've seen the look. You look at here and think she's a fine piece of aft and you think you can take her for yourself. Now, she ain't mine. Not my sort of femme. But her Grandfather paid me extra on the side to make sure bots like you keep their hands off her. If you want your chance, you better take it up with Hook first. Rumor has it, he nearly disassembled another medic and tossed him out the med bay when he found out her relation to him, and handled all her repairs and diagnostics himself. Even gave her those upgraded tools to work with." Lockdown chuckled. "But if you think you're sly, maybe you could try it when I'm not looking, but chances are she'll cut off the hand that touches her.. and well.. anything else will likely be removed as well. She's got a sadistic streak a mile long. Got it?"

The mech gulped "Y-yeah."

"Good. Now that we have an understanding, why don't we go have a drink with your buddies over there." Lockdown grinned. "I heard you three did a fair bit of smuggling before.."

* * *

Alice Smiled a little as she soared over a nearby city, despite some initial problem with looting, the city had managed to get itself back into something resembling order. Homes were being rebuilt and lives were being pieced back together. It would take time before anything resembling a recovery would exist, but it would happen. Some took up new names, to go with their new lives, others tried to cling to the names they were born with. She herself chose to go by her Air Force call sign, War Angel. It seemed more fitting somehow.

::War Angel? This is Prowl. General Morshower want you in on the conference meeting in an hour. Please be prompt.:: Prowl transmitted over the Comms.

::Rodger that, Prowl.:: She responded as she banked and turned toward the direction of the Autobot base, before engaging her afterburners. ::Any particular reason he wanted me, Sir?:: She asked.

::He hasn't stated a reason yet. I surmise he wants to know your.. side.. of things. You seem to be one of the most well adjusted of his soldiers to the change. And the other candidates are currently busy in other parts of the country. Colonel Lennox specifically was granted emergency leave and is with his family right now. Which leaves you.:: Prowl stated.

She arched a brow as she neared the ark, transforming and landing in an almost smooth motion that caused a few of the watching bots to gape at her. She hid a grin as she commed Prowl again. ::Alright, I'm coming in... let the "Minivan of Doom" know I'm on my way.. and don't tell him I called him that!:: She grinned and then almost paused mid step as a thought entered her processor. ::Actually, has Ratchet actually gotten around to fixing that?::

There was a bit of silence and garbled static over the comm before Prowl responded. ::Please don't refer to him as that.. even if it was.. fitting at the time. Ratchet gave him a full upgrade into a frame more befitting his rank.::

::Yeah! He had too! Prowl kept nearly glitching and Ironhide couldn't stop laughing. I mean.. seriousely, I never seen Ironhide laugh so hard. We had to do it or else nobot would be able to take him seriously.:: Blaster cut in. ::I think he likes the APC alt mode much better.::

War Angel barely restrained a laugh as she rounded a corner, winding her way to the conference room. ::Somehow, that just makes the nickname more fitting, Blaster.:: It wasn't long before she finally made it inside. Several bots were already there. Including General Morshower. It was hard to Mistake his face, even with all the changes, for anyone else. She smiled a little before she approached him and saluted. "Lieutenant Maher, reporting as requested!"

"At ease Lieutenant." Morshower returned the salute. "Also, I thought you were going by your call sign now?"

War Angel nodded. "Yes I am, Sir. I'm just not used to reporting with it yet." She smiled a little.

"... Fair enough, Lieutenant. Or... I should say Captain, War Angel?" Morshower managed a grin, a rare sight in the last few days. "I put in your promotion this morning. You certainly deserve it for all that you've done." Morshower walked over to his chair and took a seat. "We'll get to why I asked you to be here in a little bit. In the meantime, take a seat and try to relax. I'm sure you got a lot on your mind.. or.. processor." Morshower frowned. He was hiding it well, but he was still having some difficulty adjusting to the new.. reality.

Soon Optimus Prime stepped into the room, with Ratchet and Wheeljack close behind. As the other bots took their seats, He gazed about the room. War Angle was surprised at how awestruck she felt, even at her new size, by the Prime's presence in the room. "I know there have been.. massive changes since we last convened." Optimus spoke, his tone solemn. "However, we must endeavor to move on and work to repair what damage we can. General Morshower, I believe you had your own statements you wanted to make before we got underway?"

Morshower nodded as he stood and Optimus took a seat. "On behalf of the President of the United States, I would like to thank the Autobots for the hard work and assistance you all have provided in this time of need and we continue to look forward to a long standing mutual partnership. That said, I am hoping that we can get some answers, and more importantly, some closure, concerning recent events." He stated before sitting back down.

Wheeljack was the first to speak up. "I have some information in that regard, though I would like War Angel's personal account of what she saw to further refine some of my other theories." Wheeljack paused as he tapped on his data pad, pulling up the vessel on the holoprojector. "What we have here, is what appears to be a heavily modified Mark Two Decepticon Mining probe. I had thought they had been destroyed or cannibalized for parts and Energon long ago. However, it seems I was wrong in that assumption. Essentially, they were designed to be entirely automated machines that sought out new Energon sources, Mine out samples, then return to Cybertron with its cargo. If it came back successful, a full mining expedition would be then sent out to gather more. Constraints on resources forced the Decepticons to abandon the project before more than initial testing could be preformed. They, however, were never designed to make planetfall, nor were they provided with what I have determined to be a transwarp drive of some sort. Its a pity the drive system burned up on entry to the atmosphere, it would have been very interesting to take apart." Wheeljack muttered.

"So, this was a Decepticon plot? If it is, they seem to be awfully quiet about it." Moreshower noted.

"It may or may not be. It could be the action of a group of individuals who sided with neither Autobots or Decepticons. There were a number of Cybertronian colony worlds in the past.. Its not too far fetched to say there is still some offshoot out there, with their own agendas. Regardless, post event analysis has been... unfruitful. The entire interior has been reduced to slag, save for a few drones that had been sealed off in some of the superstructure. Their circuitry is fried, but enough of the body was left over to determine there were some vast differences in technology level between the three types. The largest ones were security and worker drones that were initially built for the probe's function. However the other two are a mystery." Wheeljack brought up the image of the smaller drones on the projector.

"I don't recognize the larger drones. I didn't see any of them. The smaller drones where what attacked me when I tried to blow up the device. I didn't seem them do much else other than fiddle with the control panels" War Angel noted. "In fact.. now that I think of it, the inside looked like it was missing large pieces of machinery, there were holes and connections where something looked like it should be there."

Wheeljacks vocalizer fins flashed excitedly as he spoke. "Really? That fits with my theory that the vessel was salvaged. The drone might have had different purposes.. but it also seems to indicate the creators of the device kept inside it were considerably smaller than Cybertronians. Maybe more on the size of a human... err.. well.." Wheeljack sputtered, his fins turning pink with embarrassment.

"Its alright." General Morshower assured. "We're all.. adjusting to the changes."

"This actually points away from any known Cybertronian subgroup." Prowl noted.

"Wheeljack's fins brightened back up again. "There are other races, similar to Cybertronians out there, according to our history logs. It is possible that this is something from one of them."

"I agree, though their motivations seem unclear." Optimus spoke. "I also recall, in our ancient history, that we once possessed the power to Cyberform entire worlds. If this.. other faction, has been picking through the relics of our past, it is possible they might have found or replicated one of those devices. Primus knows what other relics they might have uncovered."

"Ancient history aside, we need to focus on the here an now." Ratchet piped in. "Right now I'm still being flooded with medical request for the more.. interesting things that have popped up in the last few weeks. Perceptor is working 'round the clock on software patches. The next batch is due out tomorrow, along with another information packet and an updated medical primer. The sooner we can get the world back on its pedes, the sooner we can focus on other matters."

"Like the lack of any obvious 'Con activity?" Ironhide asked. "It seems a bit odd they're suddenly so quiet."

Morshower looked to War Angel. "Captain, you been out and about to several cities, have you noticed anything unusual going on?"

War Angel frowned. "Unfortunately its too difficult to tell. I've seen riots and looting going on in a few cities, but the local law enforcement has been fairly quick to shut it down. I suppose the 'cons could be in the thick of it and we probably wouldn't even notice."

"Its likely they are trying to blend in, using the chaos as cover for their operations." Prowl noted.

"Knowing Megatron, he will likely try and recruit some of criminal element into his fold. I fear he may try and recreate the civil war that engulfed Cybertron." Optimus added. "What is the current status of the reconstruction?"

Blaster changed the holoprojector image to show a chart. "Riots and looting are down by fifteen percent in America. We don't have reliable numbers from other countries, but we've seen a decrease overall as support gets out. I'm still getting casualty reports from people who didn't survive or were killed in riots. Loss of life has been catastrophic. Its looking like a good twenty percent of Earth's population has been decimated, if my projections are right. Thanks to Wheeljack releasing the plans for large scale fabricators, reconstruction is well underway. The big cities and factory area are seeing most of the work. Temporary homes have been erected, but are steadily being replaced by permanent structures. The existing information network survived almost entirely unscathed, now that the interference is gone. Its been useful for helping rebuild lives and getting in contact with others, not to mention sending vital information. Also, Jazz? You'll be pleased to know your World of Warcraft account was unharmed and the servers are back online as of this morning." Blaster smirked.

"Really? Rock on!" Jazz grinned.

"Is that is everything?' Morshower asked, waiting for each of the bots in attendance to nod. "Alright, I got one last bit before I leave, concerning why I asked War Angel to be here with us today." Morshower cleared his vocalizer and vented a long held sigh. "In the interest of further improved relations between the Autobots and the United States. If Captain War Angel agrees, we would like her to join your joint command. We recognize that you are badly understaffed and are willing to.. loan you a few of our own, in repayment for the assistance you have rendered, and in the hope out rooting out the Decepticons hiding on Earth."

War Angel blinked and took a few moments to process before grinning. "I would appreciate the opportunity to continue working with the Autobots, sir."

Optimus prime looked to the others and then nodded. "Very well, General. We accept your offer. It is also my hope, this leads to a long and mutually beneficial future together."

"Good." Morshower nodded, then looked to War Angel as he stood. "I recommend you go get your rank and insignia repainted ASAP."

"Yes sir!" War angel stood and saluted the general before he returned the salute and walked out of the conference room.

"Why do I get the feeling he's going to send us his troublemakers?" Prowl asked as the others started to stand.

"Because he's the Minivan of Doom?" Ironhide grinned. "Perhaps we'll get lucky and his fraggers will keep our little fraggers busy."

"Or they might join forces." Wheeljack added. Prowl's optics went wide at Wheeljack, and he promptly shorted out as his mind tried to comprehend the idea of having _more_ pranksters on the ship to deal with. "Oh.. whoops."

* * *

Read and review please?


	9. Chapter 8

**Transformers: Sins of future's past**

_by JupiterJones aka J.A. Franks_

_Disclaimer:_ All things Transformers belong to Hasbro and Takara-Tomy. I own nothing but the plot and Ocs.

_Setting: _G1/beastwars/beast machines continuity, except where it isn't. Divergent time-line, AU.

Chapter 8:

* * *

Soundwave stared at the comm station. Now that it had been repaired, it was a simple matter of contacting cybertron and sending the updated information on the status of Earth. Since the data stream itself needed minimal supervision, it gave the mech time to think. Whent he surge hit and ripped down through the base's electrical systems, Soundwave had a brief, fleeting vision. He tried to to dismiss it as a delusion caused by the power surge that had briefly fried his systems, but it continued to haunt his spark. He saw history, the future that would now never come to pass. The fall of Megatron, the rise of Galvatron. The ultimate defeat of the Decepticons, the great upgrade and the rise of the Predacons and Maximals. He saw a pretender to the name of Megatron come close to achieving victory, only to fail at the hands of the descendants of the Autobots. And finally, he saw the same pretender conquer Cybertron and his last act as he was overthrown. If it was all true, he had much to think about, including a more _tangible_ piece of information that had been revealed to him.

Soundwave felt the angry buzz of Starscream's mind before he heard him. Not that it was actually angry, Starscream's tone indicated he was not. But his mind always seemed to be a constant storm that was difficult to read, and now he might actually know why. Soundwave chastised himself mentally for dismissing it earlier. There are few bots he had ever had a hard time reading. Most were psychotic. Then there were the Primes. The Matrix seemed to shield their thoughts. But Starscream was different. His very spark was a pulsating engine of energy, often channeled into ambition. An immortal spark. What did it mean? It certainly had its advantages, but how could he use that? Megatron must have suspected at some point, he never goes as far as to actually destroy him. He supposed, if history had played out differently, that Starscream would have become a grand scientist, one that could of taken Cybertron to a new golden age. Perhaps, if the oracle program had willed it, things would have turned out much differently.

Sound wave turned to glance at Starscream for a moment. He was explaining to one of the Constructicons how he wanted a lab built, so he could replicate the energy wave that cyberformed the planet. Soundwave couldn't help but notice the sheer change in demeanor the normally shrill Air Commander had when pursuing aspects of science. A thought echoed in his processor, one he would never had entertained before. Megatron had fallen in that old future, failed to realize the dream of the Decepticon cause. And Starscream is a terrible leader, despite his power. But, perhaps... perhaps he can be molded.. guided into the role that Megatron had filled for so long. Because history, has a nasty habit of repeating itself.

Soundwave smiled behind his faceplate, a rare thing from the normally emotionless mech, as he began to plan. The future may be uncertain, but one can always stack the odds in their favor.

* * *

War Angel sighed as prowl handed her a data pad. Not two hours since she got repainted, a curious and very weird sensation to say the least, and Prowl already had work for her. "These are the soldiers that General Morshower will be sending to us. I felt that it was best for them to be under your command. You still answer to me and Optimus, but after I read your file, I felt it would be good for you to get some command experience to match your rank."

War Angel frowned as she parsed through the list. "Only four? I suppose I should be grateful he didn't send a full sized squadron's worth. And oh joy, they even have a list of problems and violations attached to their files." She shook her helm. It would figure that the "Minivan of Doom" would pull something like this.

"They will arrive in one hour. I suggest you lay down some ground rules when they get here. Though, I get the impression that we may have to expand the brig." Prowl smirked. Happy that _he_ wasn't the one who was going to have to deal with them most of the time. The twins were bad enough. "Though, if you want advise on punishments, I'll more than happily provide." He actually chuckled as he turned to step out of War angles hastily put together office.

War Angel revved her turbines in annoyance before she sat down heavily in her chair. "I'll hold you to that, Prowl." She grimaced when she opened the first bot's file and saw the sheer number of pages attached to it.

The first one was a mech going by the name of "Joker." At least there wasn't any mystery as to why he had that name. File upon file of the purple and white mech pegged him as the resident prankster. He had managed to bounce from several commands before landing here. On the upside, he had a excellent performance history, which is probably the only reason he still had a job. He also apparently turned into a Humvee. An odd choice for an Intel officer.

Second was another mech, this one was a tank who went by the name of "Slamfire." A weapons specialist and a wizard with a shotgun, according to the attached reports. Noted problems were only listed as "insubordination." With no elaboration as to what he did to get on the bad side of his last commander. War Angel made a note that he was likely not as bad as the reports made him out to be, and that he still seemed to be sporting the default army green color.

Next was "Wyldshot." A sniper specialist and apparently a survivalist. The Profile sheet had several notes indicating that he was quite full of himself and has a problem turning down challenges. He narrowly dodged a court marshal not six months ago, though the details had been sealed by the courts. Apparently an investigation into his CO was still pending. His Alt mode was an Apache helicopter, painted in desert camo. A side note stated he has a built in hologram system and a spotter symbiont he named Pixie. A side note labeled her as "very annoying." War Angel made a note to ask Ratchet how that works.. or better yet, Blaster.

Lastly was a red and black femme that had the alt mode of a Dodge Challenger. The oddball of the group of mostly military themed bots went by the name of "Jinx" and was a demolitions and explosives expert. Psych eval pending investigation of incident where she supposedly threatened a teenager with a flamethrower for messing around with her underage daughter. No evidence of any actual flamethrower has been found. War Angel had to smirk at that one, it wasn't as bad as she feared. She could hardly blame the femme after all.

After an hour of hammering out a rough list of Do's and Do not's, with much help from Jazz, Spike, and Carly. War Angel was finally ready to face her mismatched crew of misfits. Unfortunately, one of them was missing. "God damn it, were you not all told to wait here in the rec room for me to give a briefing?" She scowled at the trio of bots, and one minibot, that stood before her.

"Yes Ma'am." Slamfire responded. "We turned our backs for a second and Joker was no-where to be seen Ma'am."

War Angel was about to comm Prowl when the door slid open behind her, revealing the massive form of Grimlock and, in his right hand, Joker. "You, War Angel, missing something? Him, Prowl say this belongs to you." Joker barely managed a shy wave as Grimlock unceremoniously tossed Joker onto the couch, who landed with a loud "Whump!" "Him, Joker need to stay out of Dinobot Lair, lest Dinobots break him."

"Thank you, Grimlock." War angel glared at Joker who quickly got up and stood in line with the group. "I suppose I don't have to illustrate to the rest of you that you need to stay out of the other bots rooms unless invited?" As all four bots shook their helms, Grimlock snorted and then stomped out, closing the door behind him. "Good. That means we can skip that rule then. First off, I am War Angel, and I will be your CO for the duration of your stay here. We will be operating under joint Autobot and United States Military command. What that means is, you will essentially have two bosses. General Morshower and Optimus Prime. However we will be following the Autobot chain of command most of the time. Furthermore, if you piss off your Autobot superiors, they have full authority to deal with you as if you were one of their own. This does not, however, mean you will not also be punished as per UCMJ policy if I deem it necessary. Do you all understand that?"

All but Pixie nodded affirmative. "Does that include me..?" She asked.

War Angel frowned. "You at the very least, will follow Autobot protocols. The US military doesn't quite know what to do with you yet. That said, the following rules have been put together for your benefit, and mine..." She trailed off as she started to go through the exhaustive list of rules. Pixie never did finish listening to the entire list, having gone into recharge not even halfway through. Not to mention Joker was almost certain half the rules were directed at him, and he hadn't even done anything yet!

* * *

Yes, that means I'll be writing a "Rules List" ficton sometime in the future. =D

ark Humans will one day in the future be able to do so, but that's not until 20-30 years into the future, even with assistance. Assuming things get back to something resembling normalacy within a couple years.

And as always, Read and Review please! =D


	10. Chapter 9

**Transformers: Sins of future's past**

_by JupiterJones aka J.A. Franks_

_Disclaimer:_ All things Transformers belong to Hasbro and Takara-Tomy. I own nothing but the plot and Ocs.

_Setting: _G1/beastwars/beast machines continuity, except where it isn't. Divergent time-line, AU.

Chapter 9:

* * *

War Angel did not like what she was seeing at this moment. That she was certain. Three of the four bots in her command were currently passed out on the floor. Only Jinx was still standing and coherent enough to answer. Ratchet vented in annoyance behind War Angel and Jazz was doing everything in his power to try and not laugh. "Jinx.. Report! What in the Hell is going on here?" War Angel growled, her turbines revving angrily.

"Sorry.. Ma'am... Joker said -hic!- some yellow an' red bots showd him this.. awesome drink.. called it high grade.. an' -hic!- he had ta share..." Jinx swayed a bit as she turned to look back at the others. "I think Wyld went down first. Then Joker tried to challenge me an' -hic- Slam to see who can drink the most.. Joker went down next.. and then Slam fell down right after... tha's -hic!- when I called.. Ma'am."

Ratchet groaned. "I'm going to kill those two fraggers when I get my hands on them. Come on Jazz, help me drag these three idiots off to their quarters, they can sleep it off in there." Ratchet frowned as he noticed something odd. "There are enough containers here to get six bots intoxicated.. but they're all empty.. did you four drink all of them?"

"Oh.. no sir. Joker, Wyld, and Slam only had about one each before they hit the floor." Jinx noted, smiling oddly. "I just though it would be a shame ta' let it all go to waste. -hic!-"

Ratchet silently stared at Jinx for a full minute before speaking. "Go directly to your quarters and take a stasis nap. Doctors orders, then come see me later."

War angel frowned and shook her head as Jinx wobbled off before muttering, "I used to think that was just a stereotype... I'm not so sure anymore."

"What stereotype?" Jazz asked as the three bots started to drag the other three bots. "an' you sure you got Slam, Angel? He's pretty heavy built."

War Angel managed a slight chuckle as she hefted the tank. "The ones where the Irish are known for handling their drink and for their temper... and yeah, I got him. I have half a mind to try and come up with a punishment for their stupidity... but I figure they'll probably regret what they did enough when they wake up."

Jazz chuckled. "Right you are, Angel. High grade is hard on a system that's not used to it. Though that might not stop them from drinking it again, its good stuff.. they'll just have to learn not to chug a whole cube.. well not in one go anyways."

Ratchet grumbled as they neared the trio's quarters and shoved them onto their berth's. "And ya'll keep coming to me for your hangover cures when you do. Now lets go find those two fragging glitch heads. My wrench and I want a word with them before we let Prowl toss em in the brig."

"Before or after I ream them and hang them from the rafters for pulling that shit on my men?" War Angel snorted.

Ratchet considered it for a moment. "After. I always wanted to hit a pinata." He grinned sadistically.

Jazz laughed. "I'll get the cables for the stringin'.. this'll be a site to see!"

* * *

Starscream frowned at the strange thing sitting on the table in his newly built lab. According to his notes, it used to be a tree. But now it seemed to be some sort of self replicating solar array. It converted sunlight to Energon, but far in excess of what it needed to function. Meaning it actually served to feed the rest of the strange cyberfauna that thrived around it. For several days he'd requested the new bots bring him live samples of the creatures, and now he had quite a collection. Unlike Shockwave, he didn't see any value in torturing the beasts that inhabited the world, but they were _fascinating_ to study. Doubly so for the one that could actually think and speak on its own.

As Starscream carefully analyzed a sample from the tree, comparing to the the sparse notes they had from before, a low growl came from the cage behind him. "He's coming back again." Riptracker, as Starscream named him, snarled.

Starscream glanced back toward the door, idely counting the seconds before Soundwave entered. Soundwave had been irritatingly persistent in getting reports from Starscream in base metals, rather than asking for him to transmit the data, like every other bot did. The strange cyberhound didn't like Soundwave either, though when pressed, he couldn't give an answer why. Soundwave, however, never showed any sign of how he felt about the beast at all.

It was fifteen and a half seconds later, that Soundwave entered the lab. "Starscream: Report."

Starscream grumbled for a moment before he pulled up a few files on his monitor. "My research has uncovered a fair bit of potentially useful data. The plant fauna has been transformed into a sort of self replicating Energon factory, acting like a sort of solar array. It could potentially be useful in the revitalization of Cybertron!" Starscream paused as Soundwave stood there silently. "But no, Megatron doesn't care about the future, does he? He wants weapons for his impending conquest. Fine. I also found that some of the native species have a form of cybervenom of varying potency. Most of it wouldn't do much to a Cybertronian, or larger cyber life form. But I am working on improving its potency, as well as waiting for additional samples from the more venomous life forms on this planet. Thundercracker and Skywarp have been dispatched to Australia for that purpose."

Soundwave nodded. "All Research: Important. Future planning: Important. Decepticons: must endure." Soundwave retrieved a data disk from his subspace and handed it to Starscream. "Latest security and software updates.

Starscream arched a brow ridge at Soundwave's curious statement as he accepted the disk. "Yes, I'm glad you understand that. Now, tell Astrotrain to come here, I need him to deliver an experiment to a couple of isolated locations while I work on refining this cybervenom."

"Affirmative, Starscream." Soundwave quickly turned and exited. He knew that Starscream would never suspect he tampered with the software updates, adding an update of his own. It was remarkable in its subtlety. It didn't do anything a normal medical program wouldn't. Quite the opposite. It was a slight behavior modification program, normally used to curb the insane or impulsive behavioral quirks that sometimes occurred. Most Cybertronians would of balked at the use of such programs. They've always been regarded with a healthy amount of suspicion and worry, as they were dangerously close to mind control. But in Starscream's case, it would serve the Decepticon cause better, if he were a little more.. balanced. The effect would be cumulative and slight enough that Starscream shouldn't notice.

Starscream huffed once he was certain Soundwave was gone and eyed the data disk. "You know he's up to something, don't you?" Riphunter inquired.

"Of course he's up to something." Starscream revved his turbines before inserting the data disk. "The question is what. Ever since he got fried by that energy surge he's been acting strangely. Too specific to be some random glitch from the damage." Starscream paused and shuddered as a few programs rebooted. "Eventually I'll find out. He may be good at keeping secrets, but eventually he has to let something slip.. if he hasn't already." Starscream frowned. "He knows something... something he doesn't want to share."

"Something worries him." Riptracker added. "I can almost sense it, buried beneath his exterior."

Starscream grinned. "I knew there was a reason I kept you around. Now.. what do you say to a little experiment after Astrotrain picks up my package. Let us see if a primitive lifeform like you can be upgraded to Decepticon standards. I'm sure you will appreciate the results."

Riptracker grinned a canine smile. What predator wouldn't appreciate being stronger?

* * *

Prowl scowled at Sunstreaker and Sideswipe as they sat in the brig, dented up and covered in confetti of all things. "So, what did we learn today?"

"Don't get caught by the new bots' CO after you got all her troops plastered on high grade?" Sideswipe offered with a grin while his brother quietly grumbled in the corner.

Prowl groaned as he tried to ignore the processor ache. "Close, but no. How about letting someone responsible teach the new bots about high grade. Like Ratchet."

"What about Jazz?" Sides asked.

Prowl nearly glitched at the thought of Jazz being 'responsible' but he quickly shook it off. Jazz did know better than t get someone overcharged for their first time without careful supervision. "Jazz would be.. acceptable.. But no one else!"

"Its not like we told them to drink a whole cube in one sitting." Sunny snarled.

"They didn't know they shouldn't either!" Prowl snapped at Sunny before venting a sigh. "I suppose I should be relieved you two didn't do anything permanent this time."

"I heard that Jinx femme was still standing." Side's supplied helpfully.

"Yes, she was.. barely. And I should remind you to keep your hands to yourself, concerning her. She's got a mate and youngling back at home. Plus my records show I should remind you that Regulation 4.48 section B applies to her quarters as well." Prowl grated out in an almost bored tone.

Both twins perked up. "But thats the same reg you wrote of for Wheeljack's lab!" The both said in unison.

"Yes. Exactly my point. If you want to keep your servos attached to the rest of you, I suggest you don't touch. There is a reason she went into demolitions." Prowl supplied.

"Aww maaan. Way to take the fun out of things, Prowl." Sideswipe whined.

"That's what I'm here for.. or so I hear you tell every new bot you meet."

"You still sore about that?"

"Yes."

* * *

Elsewhere, Blaster and Red Alert were busy compiling the massive amounts of data being updated from around the world when Optimus Prime stepped in to check on them. "Any updates on the situation?"

"Numbers are still coming in Prime. Getting some conflicting reports, but I think I can straighten them out once I get confirmation on a few things." Red Alert responded.

"The local economy is faring better than I expected. Those who were suddenly without jobs found themselves needed for construction and manufacturing work. The least affected were artists, authors, and musicians. Not much changed for them. Seeing a boom in science related work and in the medical field. Hollywood took a massive hit, only voice actors seemed to get away relatively unscathed. If it required physical actors, the movie more or less got scrapped or put on hold for the time being. Food service is all but gone as well... with the exception of bartenders.. someone let slip how to make mixed Energon drinks and they're doing pretty well for themselves." Blaster added.

"Thankfully, Energon is plentiful now and beyond medical needs and shelter, most bots don't have as great a financial burden. I just wish these death reports matched up with the population reports." Red Alert groaned.

Prime nodded and glanced over the notes. "Perhaps the population numbers are including new births? I noticed that some of the humans had sparklings with them that appeared to be recently born."

Red Alert looked up at Optimus in surprise. "Of course! How could I've missed that! I had forgotten that humans normally don't count their children as part of the population until after their birth... Hmm.. I wonder if this also includes the symbiotes that have popped up as well.." He pondered aloud.

"On the upside, rioting has gone down significantly, and crime has dropped as well. Attempted suicides are still high, but few are successful." Blasted noted. "There's some chatter about finishing the live action movies in CGI, with the original actors doing voice acting instead... not a whole lot of people are thrilled about the idea of mixing the two. Planned sequels might go the CGI route as well, that's going over a little better for some. Others think they should just continue on and find a way to cope with the new forms and body style. All in all, it looks like a good sign for recovery."

Prime nodded again. "That is good news indeed, keep me posted on further developments. I will be going out to Jasper to check on the reconstruction there. Anything else you would like to share?"

Red Alert quirked a brow ridge as he spoke. "Its not particularly important.. but the humans are referring to the incident as 'C-Day' there's a bit of chatter of holding vigils for the lives lost and whatnot. Jazz suggested it might be a good idea to attend one when it happens."

"An excellent suggestion, let me know when and where and we shall gather together and attend the ceremony." Prime stated as he headed out the door.

"Will do Prime!" Blaster called out before going back to work.

* * *

arcon Transwarp drives aren't something that humans have ready access to to study and reverse engineer. Currently they only have access to the Decepticon developed space bridge technology, which will be enough to get them around the solar system once its set up. Remember that the Ark didn't have an on board FTL system, and instead relied upon the ground based space bridge portal that we saw used in Fall of Cybertron. It'll likely take several centuries before any serious colonization effort outside of Mars and the Moon will be made.

And as always, Read and Review please! =D


	11. Chapter 10

**Transformers: Sins of future's past**

_by JupiterJones aka J.A. Franks_

_Disclaimer:_ All things Transformers belong to Hasbro and Takara-Tomy. I own nothing but the plot and Ocs.

_Setting: _G1/beastwars/beast machines continuity, except where it isn't. Divergent time-line, AU.

Chapter 10:

* * *

Optimus Prime slowed as he neared the city of Jasper, Nevada. Even from a mile out, the now defunct vessel towered in the horizon, a twisted reminder of the event that changed the world. Yet, he thought to himself, there is hope. Past the temporary shelters erected for the many citizens who were now suddenly far to large for their own homes, were the signs of reconstruction. New homes and businesses were being erected over the old ones. Prime spotted a familiar mech helping hold a wall in place while several others welded it in place.

Transforming as he rolled up to the large green mech, Optimus Prime nodded to the former humans before speaking. "Bulkhead. How goes the reconstruction?"

Bulkhead shrugged briefly before releasing the wall. "Slowly, but its getting better. What brings you to Jasper, Prime?"

"I wanted to see how well the reconstruction was going... You wouldn't happen to know where Wheeljack is?" Prime inquired. "I was told he was assisting the city engineers with planning."

"Oh... ah.. he's in the new Med Center. Not even a day after the paint dries, and he's already the first patient." Bulkhead shook his head. "Acree is there with him, making sure he doesn't get into more trouble. If you head down the road and hang a left, you can't miss it."

"Thank you Bulkhead. Keep up the good work." Optimus nodded as he transformed and rolled off down to the Med Center. Bulkhead was right, it was nearly impossible to miss the big red cross painted above the front bay doors. Prime could see a handful of bots milling about when he entered and headed for the front desk, eying the small femme as she was apparently still getting her desk situated. "Ma'am? I'm looking for a bot named Wheeljack. I was told he was here?"

She looked up at Optimus, briefly surprised. "Oh! ah.. yes.. I suppose you can see him.. room 214.. on the right. Just.. listen for the yelling. I think that Ratchet person will be at it for a while, considering he's only able to do it over the video screen."

"Thank you, Miss." Optimus frowned behind his battle mask as he walked down the hallways. He paused at the doorway briefly to listen in.

"Next time, you scrap pile reject, you get the _stupid_ idea to try and paint with explosives, at least have the Pit be Damned common sense to do it remotely!" Ratchet bellowed, before stopping and venting a long sigh. "Nurse Darby, I'm sorry if my associate caused you any undue grief. If he continues to be of a nuisance, by all means, weld his aft to the berth! I'll be along to deal with him personally."

"Its sorely tempting." June Darby glowered at Wheeljack. "You are very lucky that nobody else got hurt!"

"You're lucky Ratchet can't reach you with that wrench of his 'Jack." Arcee mused.

Prime chuckled slightly before announcing his presence. "I take it all is well in hand then?"

Arcee stiffened. "Yes Sir, Optimus. Though Wheeljack's the one with all the details."

"Call me back when the fragger is fixed, June. Good to see you, Prime." Ratchet added before hanging up.

Wheeljack shrugged and chuckled. "I've gone over the new requirements for the city and we've came up with the new plan for its layout. It was suggested we make ground zero the center point of the new city and turn it into a memorial building and or museum."

"Jack suggested it.. no not Wheeljack. Jackson Darby. Wheeljack just took the idea and suggested it to the council" Arcee supplied as June tried to hide her smile while she started to work on Wheeljack's busted shoulder actuator.

Whilejack's fins brightened. "Yes, since the vessel is too tough to effectively dismantle, the current plan is to convert it into the monument. There are a few design files being passed around the net and being voted on right now. 'Bee even sent one in."

Prime nodded. "That's not a bad idea. Speaking of Bumblebee, where is he?"

"Bumblebee got suckered into youngling sitting duties with a handful of other bots." Arcee chuckled.

Prime chuckled. "Anything else either of you two would like to add?"

"Tell Raph I said h if you see him? He's smart for a youngling, been helping me and Perceptor out with coding. He's probably hanging out with 'Bee if you catch up to him. Kinda quiet." Wheeljack added, his fins glowing a bright blue.

"I will if I see him." Prime nodded. "Thank you for taking care of my soldier Nurse Darby. Arcee? Try to keep Wheeljack out of trouble if you can..? Jasper doesn't need any new craters." Prime grinned behind his faceplate as he started for the door.

"I'll try.. but I don't think anyone short of Primus could stop Wheeljack." Arcee teased as Wheeljack seemed to wilt, his fins glowing pink.

Prime chuckled aloud as he headed out.

* * *

Elsewhere in Jasper, Bee was slightly bored. A Number of younglings had managed to cobletogether a ball and where kicking it around. Raph, Jack, and Miko where sitting this one out, as it the younglings playing where much to small for any of them to safely play with.

"I'm boooorrred." Miko whined. "Why do we have to sit here with the little ones? I'm a big femme.. why am I stuck here with them?"

Jack vented in annoyance. Miko has made the exact same complaint, countless times since earlier this morning. "Because, adult frame or not, we're still legally kids by law. How you ended up with an adult frame is a mystery for the ages.. you certainly don't act like one."

"Oh like you are much better?" Miko revved her engine.

"At least I had a job..!" Jack insisted.

"-look at it this way, you could be rebuilding the city instead of relaxing and enjoying a very pretty day.-" Bumblebee chirped and warbled.

Miko huffed at 'Bee. "Fine.. but it still doesn't change that this is boring."

"I could log in and stream some video for you to watch?" Raph offered as he looked up from his crudely put together laptop. Raph was unfortunately still stuck in a youngling frame, even if it was more mature than his age set should of suggested. The irony of him being the most mature of the three was not lost on any of them.

Miko frowned. Even though television was still considerably more entertaining than doing nothing at all, it felt strange seeing shows recorded from before C-Day. Cartoons were only slightly more tolerable for that fact alone. "Fine.. Just no news okay? Its depressing enough as it is."

Jack had to agree. The news had been filled with depressing statistics and footage of chaos and rioting. "Might as well stick to cartoons for that matter."

'Bee beeped and buzzed. "-Probably a good idea anyways, some of the other younglings look tired.-"

Miko sighed and vented in annoyance. "Joy..."

* * *

Swindle was having the time of his function. Bots were swarming in on a daily basis, trying to buy whatever weapons and armor upgrades they could get their hands on without the government knowing about it. And with limited supplies, it meant he could charge almost whatever he wanted! Sure, some of them might be Autobot inclined, but what did he care? Decepticon high command told him to make as much money as he could, to help finance a "legitimate" front for some of their new forward operating bases. So long as it was bought and built legally, it would be that much harder for the Autobots to figure out where they're being based out of. Naturally, Swindle was going to skim a little off the top just for himself. Its only proper he paid himself for all his hard work afterall.

The black and gold mech that stood in front of Swindle's counter frowned at the price tag attached to the Decepticon built assault rifle. "Seems a bit pricey for an assault rifle. Where did you say you got this again?"

"Only the finest Decepticon weapon makers this side of the galaxy! And you know them Decepticons like to make weapons! Supplies are extremely limited right now and its difficult to get weapons all the way from Cybertron you know?" Swindle beamed at the mech, leaving out the part where they actually made the weapons on Earth. Technically speaking, he didn't lie once!

"Hmmm" The mech pondered the weapon in his hands carefully. "I think that's all I needed to know. NOW!" He shouted. Not even a moment later the wall exploded and a team of bot stormed inside the place, pointing their rifles at Swindle's head, his purple optics going wide.

"Now now.. no need to be hasty.. I can always come down in price..." Swindle forced a nervous grin.

"You aren't going to sweet talk your way out of this one, Swindle. You're under arrest for the illegal sale of weapons and destructive devices." The black and gold mech stated as he fitted Swindle with stasis cuffs. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

"Enforcers? Already? But how?" Swindle frowned. No one had given him a heads up about any enforcer busts, or that Earth even had any.

"Enforcers? We're FBI.. but I guess you could call us that." A powerfully built purple and silver femme stated. "Haven't you Cybertronians ever heard of a sting operation? Just because everything went nuts, doesn't mean we stopped doing our jobs... Now MOVE!" She ordered as they guided him toward a massive bot who promptly transformed into a prison transport.

Bishop, the black and gold mech glanced around at the weapons and upgrades lining the walls. "That's a lot of gear to confiscate for evidence."

"I'm sure it'll get sent to us once the trial is done." Aegis, the silver and purple femme, supplied. "Now, come on.. we got a report to fill out. I'm sure the Autobots will be _thrilled_ to learn the 'Cons have been up to something."

"Yeah, but.. you think they'd miss one rifle? Its a very nice gun.." Bishop almost whined.

"God. I can't take you anywhere Bish'." Aegis groaned.

"Easy for you to say. I didn't wake up covered in weapons and shield generators." Bishop griped then arched a brow ridge. "Think he'll roll over on his suppliers?"

"I think he'd sell his own motherboard if he could." Aegis noted as the doors slammed on the transport.

* * *

Starscream chuckled at his monitor while Riptracker peered at it before looking up at his master. "What am I looking at?"

"The sample I had Astrotrain plant on Mars. Its _flourishing_!" Starscream pointed at the slow trickle of Energon running down the hill and the several new "plants" that had just started to spring up around the sample. "Even in Mars's environment the cyberformed plants continue to function and spread! By my calculations, within a few vorns Mars will be covered in these and producing enough Energon to support a colony! If they can survive there, then they might be able to survive on Cybertron! Which means we might just have the solution to revitalizing our world!" Starscream proclaimed.

"I thought Megatron's plan was simply to ship the Energon this world produces to Cybertron?" Riptracker stated questioningly.

"Don't be dense my feral friend. That is a short term solution at best." Starscream chided. "Megatron's plan is short sighted and makes us dependent on our ability to import fuel from this world. Why should we be handicapped as such? If these plants can flourish on Cybertron, they can help make it independent of outside resources once more!"

"Ah.. you have a valid point. Pity he never seems to listen to you until its too late." Riptracker noted.

Starscream paused as he processed those words. "This is true. Hmm..." Starscream smiled slightly as an idea occurred to him. One he would of never considered before. "Not to mention, Megatron never takes the blame for his own mistakes... unlike the rest of us... or those of us who take the blame for failures that were no fault of our own. Hand me that datadisk. This will take time.. and patience."

Riptracker pawed at he data disk and slid it over to Starscream. He had noticed, that every time Soundwave visited, Starscream seems ever so slightly different. He knew that mech was doing something, but what? He could only argue that the changes he had noticed were improvements. Perhaps he should just wait and see.

* * *

Read and Review please! =D


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